Island



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

CHRISTINA P. BORTON, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THETILLCOX ci: GIBBS SElVING MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

MAUFACTURE OF SEWED GARMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 456,467, dated July 21,1891.

Application filed April 22, 1890. Serial No. 348,977. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern: without ridge or welt and are strong and du-Beit known that I, CHRISTINA P. BURTON, rable, irrespective of thedirection in which rof` Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, thefabric has been cut. This object is athave invented a newand usefulImprovement tained in the following way: The pieces havin theManufacture of Articles from Cut, ing been cut to tlierdesired shape,which may Knitted, or other Fabrics, which improvebe done withoutreference to the character of ment is fully set forth in the followingspecithe raw edge produced thereby, the edges are fcation prepared forsewing by forming along each,

This invention has special reference to the separately, a row ofstitches preferably by io manufacture of garments and other articlesmeans of asuitableoveredge sewing-machine.

from looped or knitted fabric, and more par- This results in theexpeditious production of ticularly to the uniting of the cut edges ofWhat may be termed an artificial selvage said fabric by means of sewingmachine edge. It is difficult, owing to the curl ofknit Stitches goods,to produce aline of stitching exactly at In the best quality of knitgoods the sevthe edge of the fabric. Itis thereforepreferred 5 eralparts are formed with selvage edges and to perform this operation bymeans of an overthe loops on the meeting edges are united by edgesewing-machine provided with a triman interlocking thread, so that theresulting ming attachment, which acts on the goods diseam is jatmandpresents no ridge or Welt. rectly in advance of the stitch-formingmech-7o zo This reswiilt has been approximated by'sewing anism. Such amachine is described in Lettogether two pieces cut from knitted goodsters Patent No. 263,550, granted Augusttl, by means of chainstitchessubstantially equal 1882, for the invention of Stockton Borton.in length to the gage of the fabric and trim- By this means the line ofstitching is accu ming off the surplus margin as close as posratclyplaced, so that the edge presents a sesible to the seam. Thoughthe ridgeresultries of loops formed by the sewing-thread, ing in this case iscomparatively slight, this Which, holds securely to the fabric, owing tomethod cannot be resorted to in the manuthe fact that the needle entersthe goods some facture of all parts of cut hosiery. Morelittle distancefrom the edge, as Well underover, by placing the seam close to the edgestood. The two meeting edges having been 8o 3o its strength anddurability are diminished. thus prepared, the pieces to be lioiiie'd areThe raw edges of knit goods have also been placed one on the other, oredge to edge, and united by oVerseaming-machines and inaagain passedthrough an oveiedge orother chines making a zigzag stitch; but While thesuitable machine (Without a trimming atproduct in these cases is acomparatively tachment) in such manner that the third line strong seamthe formation of an objectionof stitching, or the threads which form theable ridge or Welt along the line of stitching seam proper, interlockwith the loops formed is the result. by the preliminary lines ofstitching. It Will In unitingthe raivcutcdges of knitted goods beunderstood that the seam thus formed the strength of the resulting seamdepends does not depend for its strength upon the 9o 4o largely upon thedirection of the cut edge hold which its threads take upon the fabric,with respect to the Wales of the fabric. 'lhe as this may be slight, butthat it is retained strongest seam is made when the cut is parmainly bythe loops of what is herein termed allel with the Wales; but when thecutis made the artificial sclvage. Consequently when across the Wales,as in the case of the shoulthe operation is performed and the goodsder-seain in iindershirts, or at an oblique anstraightened out theunited edges meet or gle thereto, the tendency to raveling is very abut,as in the regular-made goods, and do great. not overlap at the seam.rIhe slight addi- This invention has for its object the protionalthicknessimparted bythe extra threads duction of hosiery and otherarticles from is not sufficient to produce discomfort to the roo piecesof knitted or other fabric in which the Wea-rer of the goods. The newscam is of parseams uniting the proximate cnt edges are ticularadvantage in the manufacture of iindersl'irts. Y The trunks Y of thesegarments are usually knitted on a circular-knittin g machine, the fabricbeing cut across the wales, presenting raw edges to be joined over theshoulders. At this point the formation of any ordinary seam isinadmissible, and consequently the practice is to pick up eachindividual loop upon points and unite the meeting edges by what is knownas a turning-olf ro machine. This operation is tedious, and of courseadds considerably to the cost of manufacture. The ribbed cuff portions,which are -separately knitted, are ordinarily joined to the sleeves, andthe finishing-band to the t 5 lower edge of the garment in the same way.

The new seam herein described can be successfully applied to these aswell as to all other seams of the garment', and the manufacture thereofgreatly expedited and cheapened. For the purpose of a betterunderstanding of the said invention reference may be had to theaccompanying drawings, which represent on an enlarged scale two piecesof knit fabric united by a seam embodying or madeV z 5 in accordancewith the said invention.

Figure l is a plan View showing two pieces of knit fabric with theirmeeting edges prepared with overedge stitches and the uniting seam ofoverseam stitches partially completed, 3o and Fig. 2 a perspective Viewshowing artificial selvage edges formed by zigzag stitches united by ancverseain, 1

The .two pieces of fabric to be joined are designated by the letter ct.They are cut to 3,5V proper shape, and their raw edgesY are providedwith the lines h of overedge sewingmachine stitches, constituting anartificial selvage or anchorage. These stitches present a series ofloops at the edge of the cut fabric, 4o which,as already stated, ispreferably trimmed in advance of the sewing, so that the loops may beaccurately placed. The twov edges are joined by the threads c, thestitches passing through or interlocking wi'th'th'eV Vloops' of thethreads hso that theseam holds mainly by the threads instead ofaltogether by the thread or loops of the fabric itself. As shown, theseam formed in this manner is fiat and n presents but one thickness offabric.

Vhile the invention is of peculiar utility in connection with themanufacture of knitted goods, it may obviously be used in connectionwith woven or other fabric. It is also obvious that the invention may beused to join Atogether two pieces of fabric, one of which has a regularselvage edge. In that case it will be necessary to form the artificialselvage in the manner pointed out only on the edge of the piece that hasbeen cut.

Having now fully described my said invention, the part or improvementwhich l claim as new isl. In the art of manufacturing articles, such asgarments, from suitable fabric, such as knit goods, the improvementconsisting in forming along each flat cut edge aline of stitches, asspecied, so that each cut edge will be provided with an articialselvage, and then uniting the edges of the contiguous pieces by a lineof stitches interlocking with the selvage stitches, thereby producing aiiat seam without ridge, hem, or welt, substantially as described. c f

2. The process of uniting the edges of fabric in the manufacture ofarticles, such as garments, which process consists in first foriningseparately along each at cut edge an artitcial selvage by means ofoveredge stitches,

and then uniting the edges of contiguous pieces by another line ofstitches interlocking with and holding by the loops of the firstnamedstitches, thereby producing a fiat seam without ridge, hem, or welt,substantially as described. Y YY 'Y c Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 3. The combination,with two pieces of cut knit goods having their edges abutted, of acontinuous row of loops constituting an artiiicial selvage for eachedge, and an interlocking thread or threads continuously meeting theopposite loops of said rows or selvages, substantially as described.

ln testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

CHRISTINA P. BORTON.

XVitnesses:

S. BoRToN, CHRIs'ro. RHODES.

